PKR Qualfier Reaches WPT Ireland Final Table

January 22, 2012

The PKR WPT Ireland concluded on Sunday January 8 with victory for Englishman Dave Shallow, who defeated a final table which included PKR online qualifier Patrik 'PatIvey' Vestlin. The EUR2,500 buy-in main event attracted a field of 338 poker players including 46 PKR online qualifiers. Eventual winner Shallow collected EUR222,280 for first place, but it was Swedish fourth place finisher and PKR Poker qualifier Patrik 'PatIvey' Vestlin who created headlines of his own. The 27-year old, who qualified for a $5,000 WPT package for $54 at PKR.com, is best known for his consecutive 1st, 1st and 3rd place finishes in PKR's flagship online tournament, the $270 buy-in $100,000 guaranteed Masters, for which he was inducted into the PKR Hall of Fame in 2009. For his fourth place finish at his first WPT final table, Vestlin earned EUR52,600, the biggest result of his career.

The performance of PKR qualifiers

PKR sent a record 46 online qualifiers to the WPT Ireland, many of whom won their $5,000 WPT Experience package, which included entry to the EUR2,500 main event and a number of PKR VIP events, through freerolls. The 46 included players from Europe, Russia and South America, and featured winners of the PKR Masters, members of the PKR Hall of Fame and PKR TV presenter Ashley Hames. From the 46 who began Day 1, 28 reached Day 2 and six reached the money on Day 3. Just one of the six, Patrik 'PatIvey' Vestlin, reached Day 4 and the final table, though he was unable to emulate the success of Team PKR Pro Vladimir 'Beyne' Geshkenbein, winner of EPT Snowfest in 2011. In all, the PKR online poker qualifiers made up 16% of the field and cashed for EUR84,720.

For the first time all Team PKR Pros met including the latest signing Jake Cody who played alongside his six fellow Team PKR Pros - James 'james666' Sudworth, Sofia 'welllbet' Lovgren, Sascha 'locodice' Walter, Marc 'Waswini' Bariller, Scott 'PKR_Scott' Shelley and Vladimir 'Beyne' Geshkenbein. The best performance came from Frenchman Marc 'Waswini' Bariller, who was eliminated just before the money.

The next opportunity for PKR players to take on the world's best poker players will be in June at this year's World Series of Poker, where another record field of PKR qualifiers will earn WSOP Experience packages. Details of PKR's 2012 WSOP Experience satellites will be released soon.